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Stories

  • Article

Black pepper to fuel fiery fights and cure haemorrhoids

This common condiment was once very valuable and, until surprisingly recently, used as a versatile medicine.

  • Article

Theriac: An ancient brand?

The name theriac survived for around for two millennia as a pharmaceutical term. But a ‘brand’ name is not always a guarantee of quality.

  • Article

The ancient doctors who refused payment

The NHS might only be 70 years old, but the idea of free healthcare goes back to Ancient Greece, when devout doctors provided their services without charge.

  • Article

How light pollution affects our circadian rhythms

Too much of the wrong sort of light can send our natural cycles off-kilter – is city life messing with your circadian rhythm?

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Images

  • Itinerant medicine vendors in Rome. Oil painting attributed to Dirk Helmbreker.
  • Itinerant medicine vendors in Rome. Oil painting attributed to Dirk Helmbreker.
  • Itinerant medicine vendors in Rome. Oil painting attributed to Dirk Helmbreker.
  • An itinerant medicine vendor in Rome. Oil painting after Karel Dujardin (?).
  • An itinerant medicine vendor in Rome. Oil painting after Karel Dujardin (?).
  • An itinerant medicine vendor in Rome. Oil painting after Karel Dujardin (?).
  • An itinerant medicine vendor in Rome. Oil painting after Karel Dujardin (?).
  • An itinerant medicine vendor in Rome. Oil painting after Karel Dujardin (?).
  • Saint Philip Neri (26th May). Born in Florence, 1515. Spent his life working in Rome and hence called the Apostle of Rome. Died in 1595. no connection with medicine. Represented usually surrounded by children.
  • A travelling tooth-drawer and medicine vendor in a town near Rome. Engraving by A.L. Richter, ca. 1834, after D.W. Lindau.
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